Friend Material
by lollygirl128
Summary: "It might have been Percy's overactive imagination, but he was pretty sure this kid was following him. And if the kid was indeed following him, he had been since second period." One shot, when Percy met Grover.


Friend Material

**A/N Short one shot I decided to pop out. Be warned, it's on the short side.**

It might have been Percy's overactive imagination, but he was pretty sure this kid was following him.

And if the kid was indeed following him, he had been since second period, when Percy had taken the last available seat, which was in the back corner next to said stalker-kid. Percy had shuffled to the seat without looking to see who it was, only checking to make sure Nancy Bobofit was at least four seats away from him. He had learned during first hour that he did not like her or her ugly cronies.

He sat in the seat, getting out his notebook and preparing for class, not glancing at the person next to him. Until, the kid made an odd sound like a mixture of a cough and a wheeze. Percy looked up to his right and saw a boy with brown curly hair who looked like he'd been held back a few years, and he was, like, _really_ close to him. Percy leaned back to his left so their faces weren't so close before speaking.

"Um. Hi?" Percy began.

The boy—well, more like teen—turned his seat so he was facing Percy completely. Percy was glad he wasn't so close to him anymore, but was kind of disconcerted by the obvious staring the guy was doing. His eyes were wide like was meeting a celebrity.

He cleared his throat and offered his hand, something kids his age just don't do. "G-Grover. Nice to meet you," the kid-teen introduced himself. Percy nodded and took his hand and shook it, despite the oddity of it.

"Percy, nice to meet you too," Percy said. Grover smiled like that was the best possible thing Percy could've said.

Grover looked like he was about to say something, but then the teacher walked in and started class.

So now, as he walked to lunch, Grover followed him. He had been in his last two classes, in seats close to Percy, but he hadn't been able to sit next to him since second period. Not because Percy was purposely avoiding Grover, but because the seat next to him would be filled by the time Grover got into the classroom. Percy thought he had some kind of problem with his legs, making Grover walk like every step hurt, so the guy was kind of slow.

Percy stopped at a water fountain and got a drink of water, giving Grover some time to catch up with him. He didn't seem to have any friends, just like Percy, so maybe he'd like to sit together at lunch.

Percy gave him a few moments to catch up, but didn't see him. He had probably gotten lost in the crowd, Percy thought. He looked over the heads of the juvenile delinquents of Yancy Academy down the hall, trying to find him.

Find him, he did.

Surrounded by Nancy and her ugly friends, Grover was backed up into a locker looking scared for his life. As Percy watched from about fifteen feet away, Nancy knocked all of the books out of Grover's hands with a sneer.

If there was one thing Percy did not accept, it was bullying.

"Hey!" Percy shouted down the hall. He jogged toward the bullies and Grover, his signature do-you-want-me-to-hurt-you glare in place. He stopped beside Grover. "What's going on?"

Nancy looked Percy up and down, sizing him up. Percy was glad he was at least an inch taller than her. "Leaving," she sneered. She gestured for her cronies to follow her, kicking one of Grover's books into the foot traffic and running into Percy with her shoulder.

Percy turned around and raised his hand to smack her upside the head, only to have his wrist grabbed from behind.

"Don't, you'll get in trouble," Grover muttered.

When he thought Nancy was far enough away for Percy to not retaliate, he released his wrist. Percy thought about chasing her down and maybe tackling her, but the moment had passed anyway. He turned around and saw Grover struggling to kneel down and grab the books.

"Here," Percy offered, bending down to pick them up for him. He grabbed them and the one Nancy had kicked into the middle of the hall, and handed them to Grover.

Grover had a look kind of similar to awe on his face. Percy wondered if Grover had never had a friend to do that for him. He accepted the books and looked at Percy earnestly. "You didn't need to do that, you know."

"Pick up the books or get Nancy to leave?" Percy asked.

Grover shrugged. "Either."

Percy shrugged as well. "Well I did." Percy began walking down the hall, jerking his head for Grover to follow him. Grover stumbled before falling in next to Percy. "Do you have anywhere you'd like to sit for lunch? Or could I join you? I'm new."

Grover shook his head and smiled. "No no, you can sit with me. I'm new too."

Percy nodded. "Cool. Do you stay in the dorms?" Grover nodded. "My dorm mate didn't show last night, so I don't know anyone. Hey, what's your dorm number? Maybe we're on the same floor."

Grover fished a piece of paper out of his pocket and un-crumpled it, reading the sloppy writing. "Second floor, room 7-B."

Percy's head snapped to the side to face Grover. "That's my room! So we're room mates," he said with a smile. He was relieved, he really didn't want to bunk alone.

Grover seriously perked up at this. "Really? That's awesome!" he exclaimed, then realized he was getting a little worked up. He cleared his throat. "I mean, yeah, that's cool."

Percy cracked a smile. He'd never found a friend on the first day of school, usually it took until Christmas for kids to warm up to him. Another reason that he wanted this year to be different. Percy could already tell this dude was good friend material, he didn't want to jeopardize that by blowing something up or something like that.

Maybe the guy was a few years behind, with little wisps of a goatee and acne, and maybe he was a little weird, but Percy liked him already.

**A/N Told you it was short.**

**Well I hope you liked it anyway! Reviews are the chocolate chips to my pancakes (meaning you don't absolutely need them, but they make my day a million times better), so please leave your thoughts!**


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